TIRANA, April 16 /ATA-By Etleva Xhajanka/ – After years working in Italy, farmer Fran Kol Brunga has returned to his hometown of Fishtë in northern Albania to build a growing family-run agribusiness supplying local markets with dairy, meat and eggs.
Brunga’s story reflects a broader trend of return migration, where skills and experience gained abroad are reinvested in rural economies. While in Italy, he trained in livestock farming, cattle breeding and the production of processed dairy products, gaining hands-on experience in modern farm management and production standards.
“Everything I learned there, I wanted to bring back and apply in my own farm,” he told an interview with the Albanian Telegraphic Agency (ATA).
Starting from scratch upon his return to Fishtë, Brunga initially managed a modest herd of around 35 small ruminants. Over time, supported by experience and national subsidy schemes, he expanded operations significantly.
Today, his farm includes around 130 sheep and goats, producing milk, meat and dairy products that are supplied to agrotourism businesses and local agribusinesses in Lezhë and surrounding areas.
A key factor behind his success, Brunga said, has been securing a stable local market. “I sell all my production and have a guaranteed market,” he noted, highlighting partnerships with agrotourism operators as crucial to the farm’s sustainability.
In addition to livestock, he has diversified into poultry farming, raising around 130 birds and further expanding the family’s production capacity. The farm currently produces about 100 kilograms of milk per day, alongside significant quantities of meat and eggs distributed across the local market.
Brunga credits government support schemes with helping improve working conditions and scale up production. He runs the farm together with his family, describing it as both a source of income and a way of life.
Rising demand for local and organic products-driven in part by the growth of agrotourism in the region-has encouraged him to consider further expansion.
His experience underscores how migration-driven know-how, combined with family labor and access to local markets, can turn agriculture into a viable engine for rural economic development in Albania.
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